"I'm definitely excited, yet there's some anxiety as well," he said, "The anxiety starts to hit because you want to make sure everyone's prepared and everything's ready to go."

Willman should be ready. A graduate of Southern Lehigh where he played as a defender, he went on to Millersville University where his versatility on the back line and midfield earned him his playing time.

His coaching apprenticeship included stints under Chris Bleam at Parkland and his wife, Kelly Bleam at Northwestern.

"Between Chris and Kelly, I learned about coaching in general; things that I've taken and will use for the rest of my life," Willman said. "Chris is more intense; Kelly is more laid back. I learned that basically you have to be yourself and find what works."

Sometimes, that depends on the size of the school.

"There's a big difference between coaching at a bigger school than at a smaller school," Willman said. "At a school like Parkland, you may have 100 or 120 kids to pick from for the team, so if people want to play, they can learn to deal with your personality."

It's a little different at Palisades.

"At a smaller school, you have to be careful. If you're too egocentric, you may not have the players anymore, so you have to adjust," said Willman, who teaches cybersonics technology at Palisades. "At Parkland, I might not see the kids until practice time. At Palisades, I'll see them all day because you keep bumping into them in the hallway."

Palisades, which won the Colonial League championship under Yoder in the spring of 2012, went 8-9 last season but five of those losses were by one goal.

"It was there for the taking," Willman said. "We couldn't close it out. We need to be stronger this year."

A small senior class returns for the Pirates, led by forward Sydney Bartone, who led the team with 20 goals, and Hunter Boland, who played midfield and defense.

"Last year, our numbers were low," Willman said. "We only had about 24 kids and that's for both varsity and JV. We'll have 10 freshmen coming in, so our numbers should be better. With a small senior group, most of our kids will be back next year, and we'll have another group of freshmen coming in, so the numbers will grow even more."

Playing in the competitive Colonial South will make qualifying for both the league and district playoffs a challenge for the Pirates. And should Palisades make the Colonial postseason, it will probable run into Willman's former team and defending champion in Northwestern.

"With Kelly (Bleam), when it's time for certain (star) players to leave, she'll have new ones ready to step in," Willman said. "She's created a culture of girls soccer at Northwestern. When girls in that district grow up seeing her teams win, they want to become soccer players. She really gets the numbers out."